QUICK CLIP – DCCC Chairman Israel Unveils Red to Blue Candidates

On MSNBC’s Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd this morning DCCC Chairman Steve Israel announced 16 problem-solving Democratic candidates have been named to the DCCC’s signature Red to Blue program, and an additional 19 districts and candidates were named as Red to Blue districts or emerging districts and races, for a total of 35 seats in play in the initial rollout of the highly competitive program.

Chairman Israel said: “What unifies these top-tier candidates right now is the fact that they are problem-solvers. We didn’t have to recruit many of them, they recruited themselves because they had had it with the shutdowns, with Republican recklessness and irresponsibility. They are problem-solvers in battleground districts, so this is our initial rollout there will be more and we will have a very competitive battlefield as we go deeper into the cycle.”

When it comes to Republican retirements, Chairman Israel said: “There are 11 Republicans, senior Republicans who decided to leave the Congress because they knew that they were no longer welcome in a Tea Party Congress as moderates. The fact is that the numbers stack up very favorably for us with respect to vacancies. 11 Republican districts are now competitive because Republican incumbents left. Three, a total of three Democratic districts are more competitive because of Democratic departures. I’ll take the three and fight for the three, we’ll let the Republicans fight in those 11.”